The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says EU citizens remain welcome

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan today acted swiftly to reassure all EU citizens that they remain welcome – and valued – in the capital

The London-born mayor, whose immigrant father was a London bus driver, was elected to City Hall last month with a huge majority in a sweeping victory.

His Tory opponent seriously undermined his own campaign with London voters by supporting Brexit.

Today Mayor Khan said:

“I want to send a clear message to every European resident living in London – you are very welcome here. As a city, we are grateful for the enormous contribution you make, and that will not change as a result of this referendum.

“There are nearly one million European citizens living in London today, and they bring huge benefits to our city – working hard, paying taxes, working in our public services and contributing to our civic and cultural life. They are one of the big reasons why this is the greatest city in the world.

“We all have a responsibility to now seek to heal the divisions that have emerged throughout this campaign – and to focus on what unites us, rather than that which divides us.”

Petition – London in EU

Meanwhile, a petition has been circulating, calling for the Mayor to “Declare London independent from the UK and apply to join the EU”. At the time of writing, the signatories had reached over 35,000.

It states:

“London is an international city, and we want to remain at the heart of Europe.

“Let’s face it – the rest of the country disagrees. So rather than passive aggressively vote against each other at every election, let’s make the divorce official and move in with our friends on the continent.

“This petition is calling on Mayor Sadiq Khan to declare London independent, and apply to join the EU – including membership of the Schengen Zone (Umm, we’ll talk about the Euro…).

“Mayor Sadiq, wouldn’t you prefer to be President Sadiq? Make it happen!”